Whistleblower

Qui Tam Lawsuits and Whistleblower Attorney in Texas

Qui Tam, is a latin term that means “he who sues in this matter for the king as well as for himself.”

Qui Tam actually refers to a certain type of civil lawsuit that whistleblowers may bring on the government’s behalf under the False Claims Act (FCA). These lawsuits generally “blow the whistle” on fraudulent practices of organizations such as over charging the government on goods and services.

The FCA is a law that rewards whistleblowers if their qui tam cases actually recover funds for the government by up to 30%. Qui tam cases can be a very powerful way for private individuals – like you – to help the United States government stop every kinds of fraud including Medicare, Medicaid and Military among others. These fraudulent practices costs the government millions of dollars every year.

The False Claims Act also provides both job and personal protection to whistleblowers because of the professional and personal risks they take in order to expose and stop fraud against the government, fraud that costs them millions of dollars every year. Apart from cost of these fraudulent acts, the behaviour of these fraudulent companies endanger the lives of patients, U.S. soldiers and others.

The moment a person has very strong evidence of fraud against the government, he or she must first decide if they want to blow the whistle. Ask yourself, is it right to keep quiet about this injustice? The right answer is no. Nobody should keep quiet and do nothing.

Your first step is to find a lawyer, a very good lawyer. The kind of lawyers here at Hughes and Ellzey, LLC. You need to find a very good lawyer to represent you because the success or failure of that case and whether or not you recieve a reward depends on that lawyer.

It must be noted that the amount of the whistleblower reward depends on many factors, such as the quality of the case, the evidence presented the Justice Department and most importantly, the quality of the whistleblower’s attorney.

Another major factor on the success and failure of a Qui tam case is If the government intervenes in the case. Although, if the law firm you choose is good, like Hughes Ellzey, LLC, then that wouldnt matter much. But it must be noted that your reward depends on this. Funds recovered through government intervention gets up to 25 percent of the recovery. If the government doesn’t intervene in the case and it is pursued by the whistleblower team, the whistleblower reward is between 25 and 30 percent of the recovery.

THE NUMBERS OF WHISTLEBLOWER CASES ARE GROWING

Whistleblower cases represent one of the fastest growing areas of consumer litigation in the country.

The Obama Administration demonstrated great foresight in advocating for increased funding for the Department of Justice to prosecute these cases. USA Today reports that in 2011, the federal government brought in a record $2.3 billion in whistleblower settlements and judgments. This amounts to $7 for each $1 spent by the government fighting fraud. Steven Kohn, director of the non-partisan National Whistleblowers Center, told USA Today that the law could be used even more aggressively. He stated:

About 3,500 fraud cases have not been investigated. Why don’t they get the resources? For every case they prosecute, they bring in more money.

In many instances, whistleblower cases are litigated in partnership between the Department of Justice and the private law firm that initially filed the case on behalf of the whistleblower Plaintiff. Most whistleblowers first report fraud to company managers and are routinely ignored. They then turn to private counsel or law enforcement when they grow frustrated that the fraud continues. Whistleblower suits are filed under seal, and the government is given an opportunity to investigate the case and intervene if it chooses to do so. The government can recover treble damages under the law, and private Plaintiffs and their counsel can recoup fees up to 30% of the amount recovered.